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In the latest count, Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich leads Sen. Ted Stevens in all Fairbanks districts except North Pole.

It appears that Alaskan Independence Party candidate Bob Bird siphoned off enough support from Stevens to tip the scales toward Begich in the Fairbanks area.

So far, Begich has 17,709 votes in the Fairbanks area, while Stevens has 17,666, with more to be counted today. Bird has 2,283 votes.

In general terms, Begich has a big edge in the university, Goldstream, Chena Ridge and Ester areas, while Stevens has a big edge in North Pole and environs.

The results in the territory between those opposing poles are mixed.

In District 7, to the north and east of Fairbanks, Begich has 4,713 votes to 4,544 for Stevens.

In District 8, which includes the university, Begich has 4,792 votes to 3,370 for Stevens.

In District 9, Begich has 3,064 votes, while Stevens has 2,879. In District 10, Begich has 2,305 votes, while Stevens has 2,185.

In District 11, which includes the North Pole area, Stevens has 4,688 to 2,835 for Begich.

Meanwhile, the updated results continue to show that Republican Sen. John McCain won in all local districts over Democratic Sen. Barack Obama in the race for president.

Obama is the closest in District 8, the most heavily Democratic section of Fairbanks. Obama has 4,227 votes, while McCain has 4,282 votes.

The lowest turnout appears to be on Fort Wainwright and Eielson Air Force Base.

On both installations, McCain topped Obama and Begich topped Stevens, further proof that the Senate race was not just a question of party affiliation.

On Fort Wainwright, 523 voters cast ballots, less than 10 percent of those officially on the rolls. Begich topped Stevens 270-184 on Fort Wainwright, while McCain had a 338-176 edge in the presidential race.

At Eielson, the vote was 497-137 for McCain over Obama, and 313-260 for Begich over Stevens.

The total number of registered voters on Eielson and Fort Wainwright combined is 9,571.

There were 1,165 votes cast at the two installations, based on the count so far. That number will climb as more absentee and questioned ballots are tallied.

The huge gap between the number of voters and non-voters may be caused by a combination of factors — deployments to the Middle East, personnel who have moved Outside but retain residency in Alaska and the lag in updating voter rolls because those who do not vote for four years are still listed as “voters.”